"they wrapped cloth around paddles to press the air out of clay"
Where did they get the cloth? This band of nomads had looms?
These guys, Bye, Bye Beringia (8,000 Year Old Site In Florida), had fabric that was as finely woven as a present day T-shirt. They didn't say they had looms but, it can't be explained otherwise.
"*All told, 87 cloth fragments from an estimated 67 complete items were recovered from the dig. The cloth was made from the leaves of sabal palm. The pieces reveal five different methods of fabric making, all without benefit of a loom. Even so, some fabrics are woven as tightly as a cotton T-shirt. Others are made more loosely twined into blankets, capes, and toga-like garments."